by Eliz Dowdy

The Rialto Unified School District’s 8th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. elementary school essay writing contest was judged by community volunteers including the Precinct Reporter Group represented by Dr. E.C. Dowdy. The contest is sponsored by the Retired Senior Volunteer Program, (RSVP) West Valley and the Rialto Unified School District.

The judges were greeted by Superintendent Dr. Harold Cebrun, who was leaving the Kaz Education Center to speak to students at Wilmer Amina Carter High School. Sharing one of the nuggets he would tell them, he said, “We need to define ourselves by what we do with our names. We need to do something that defines us by the deeds we do,” quoting President Obama who stated in his acceptance speech, “I am not the president of Africans Americans, I am not the president of Caucasians, I am the president of the United States of America,” as an example of letting our work define us.

There were six schools participating, via their fourth and fifth grades: Bemis, Preston, Fitzgerald, Curtis, Garcia, and Dunn; a district spokesperson said that the list of schools changes each year. They are selected by a committee comprised of the district and the RSVP volunteers. They divide the schools selected between those situated in the northern and southern section of the city, and those in the central areas.

The judges worked in groups of three, each one reading and giving points for the contents of the work. Grading was on a 1-2-3 point average, with three being the highest level. Some of the children stated the non-violence tactics they had learned from Dr. King, not answering violence with violence, an amazing revelation for kids still in elementary school. Others spoke of his accomplishments in the face of adversity, and that gave them strength to believe that they could overcome the obstacles in their own lives. After the first round of judging, we received different schools and started the second round of judging, then all the points were added and some of us remained for a third round for tie-breakers.

Each of the participating schools will receive first, second and third place winners. The other students will receive a certificate of participation.

The judges were served lunch, and a song break. City songstress Faye Coates sang a patriotic song to revive us in the midst of the tedious work of judging the essays.

The Precinct Reporter lauds and applauds the RSVP group and the Rialto Unified School District for encouraging the children to express their understanding of what Dr. King was working to accomplish, and the behavioral skills necessary to walk the non-violence walk in the face of mountainous obstacles.